Nut-cracking machine



Oct. 3, 1950 A. D. ADAMOPOULOS NUT CRACKING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 21, 1947 nab? Oct. 3, 1950 A. D. ADAMOPO ULOS NUT CRACKING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 21, 1947 1950 A. D. ADAMOPOULOS 2,524,545

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Filed July 21, 1947 Oct. 3, 1950 A. D. ADAMOPOULOS NUT CRACKING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. flfla'sz orrzezzas j Patented Oct. 3, 1950 UNITED STATES TENT. OFFICE 1'. This invention which'relates in general to a nut cracking machine is adapted particularly for operation upon elongated nuts such as pecans although the same or a similar construction may be with advantage utilized for cracking nuts of other kinds and shapes as well.

An important object of the invention is to provide a nut cracking apparatus which will break the shells thoroughly in a number of places without unduly crushing the parts or mashing the nut meats within, so that they can be removed intact as relatively large pieces. A further object is to provide a nut cracking machine in which the operations are entirely automatic, the nuts being placed in a hopper from which they are fed, positioned, cracked, and then discharged through a short fall which tends to break them apart.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine of this kind which will engage 1 Claim. (01. 14612) pecans and similarly shaped nuts in a particular pattern to insure the most thorough breaking of the nuts without breaking of the meats into small pieces. A further object is to provide for the purpose noted a machine which is simple in operation and utilizing but a relatively few parts, but

which is adapted to successively engage the nuts in a large number of places to crack them in an effective and efiicient manner to facilitate extraction of the meats fromthe shells. I

Other objects of the invention will appear in the ensuing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention in the manner following:

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of the machine, showing some of the parts in section;

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the operating and cracking mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a plan view, looking down from line 4-4 of Fig. 3;-

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 1, showing the nut feeding mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on line 6-ii of Fig. 5 j

Fig. 7 is a sectional view, taken on line. 'l1 ofFigZ;v 1

Fig.8 shows a portion of the. crackingmechanism in a position which follows that shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 shows a portion of the cracking .mecha .nism in the nut engaging position;

Fig. -10 is a section, taken on line Ill-i0 of adjustably in place.

dropping out by the stem 25.

Fig. 11 is a section, taken on line l|--H of Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view in elevation, showing the manner in which the cracking heads engage with a nut; and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a nut after being cracked in the machine. Nut meats are now commonly sold after removal from their shells, and for certain kinds of nuts, such as pecans, the larger pieces, such as halves, command a higher sale price than the smaller fragments. To remove the halves, the shells must be carefully but accurately cracked, and without overcrushing. The machine of my invention not only feeds the nuts in a predetermined way, but also engages the nuts in a particular pattern of contacts to crack the nuts in the desired manner.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a hopper 2!] with a downwardly converging bottom and sides is connected at its bottom to a cross piece 2! secured near the upper ends. of upright side frames 22. The cross piece has a central angular offset 24 into which a short stem 25 projects. This stem may be threaded through the cross piece with a lock nut 2'6 to hold it The offset into which the stem projects is not sufficiently large to permit nuts N to pass therethrough out of the hopper. The end wall of the hopper adjacent the frames is parallel thereto and has a bottom slot 28 therein extending above the olfset 24 but not wide enough for a nut to pass downwardly therethrough.

Sprocket wheels 29 and 30 are carried upon parallel cross shafts 3i and 32, respectively, mounted between the upper ends of the side frames 22. The wheels are connected by a sprocket chain 33 movable adjacent the slot 28 in the hopper. Spaced lift arms 34 are secured in pairs to opposite sides of the chain extending outwardly therefrom into the slot openings 28 at opposite sides of the stem 25, and are freely movable upwardly through the bottom slot of the hopper.

Nuts within the hopper will gravitate to the bottom opening where they are prevented from As the adjacent run of the chain moves upwardly, the lift arms M which are spaced apart to pass the stem will engage a nut'N. between them, carrying it over the top of the chain. To seat the nut more firmly upon the arms 3d their upper edges may have outwardly turned flanges 35.

.A feeding funnel 36 located below the chain 33 at the side ofthe frame opposite the hopper is supported at each end by a bar 31 which connects it with the adjacent upright frame 22. The funnel is shaped to position a nut N horizontally endwise with its long dimension parallel to the cross shafts 3| and 32.

At the bottom of the feeding funnel are two parallel nut supports 38 and 39 with outwardly flaring upper portions to provide between them a seat for nuts that are to be supported in a fixed position. One support 38 is connected by an arm 40 with the upper end of a lever 4|, and the other support 39 is connected by an arm 42 with the upper end of a lever 43. The lower end of the lever 4| is pivoted at 44 to the frame 22, and the lever 43 is pivoted at 45 near its lower end upon an arm 46 extending from the frame. The lower end of the lever 43 is pivoted to one end of a link 41 whose other end is pivoted to the lever 4| intermediate its ends.

Near the tops of the levers 4| and 4,3 are inwardly extending nut supports 48 and 49 directly below the supports 38 and 39, respectively, spaced therefrom less than the smallest dimension of the nuts to be cracked, and positioned to successively engage each nut along its opposite sides horizontally thereof. Another pair of nut supports 56 and parallel to the supports 38 and 39, are located below the nut N when engaged by the supports 48 and 49. The support 5| is held by an arm 52 in fixed position with respect to the frame 22, and the other support 50 is carried at the top end of a lever 53 pivoted on a lower portion of the frame.

Near its lower end the lever 4| has a fixed arm 54 with a contact roller 55 at the outer end, and the lever 53 which is substantially parallel with the lever 4| has a fixed arm 56 near its lower end with a contact roller 51 at its outer end. These levers 4| and 53 are rocked by cams 58 and 59v respectively, both mounted on a shaft 69 mounted in the side frame 22.

The cam 58 has two projections 58a and 58b to engage the contact roller 55, the projection 5811 having a relatively short period of engagement with this roller and being spaced about threequarters of one rotation of the cam ahead of the longer engaging projection 58b. The cam 59 which engages the contact roller 51 for the other lever 53, closely follows or slightly overlaps the projection 58b in its relative timing. During the interval between engagement of the projections 58a. and 5812, the nut cracking operation takes place, and in the other interval, including engagements of these projections, the nut is fed from the bottom of the funnel for discharge from the position wherein it was subjected to cracking.

Also secured to the shaft 69 is a sprocket wheel 6| engaging a sprocket chain 62 which also passes around a sprocket wheel 63 on the shaft 3! at the tops of the side frames 22. When the shaft 68 is rotated, it causes the nuts N to be fed automatically from the hopper 28 by moving the chain 33 on its sprockets, thereby carrying the lift arms 34 and any nuts lodged thereon over the top sprocket 29, and discharging the nuts into the feeding funnel 36. At the bottom of the funnel the nuts are horizontally positioned by the supports 38 and 39. As the lever 4| is rocked outwardly by engagement of the cam 580, with the roller 55, the lever 43 is rocked by its connecting link 41 in an opposite direction. This separates the nut supports 38 and 39 so that a nut N may drop between them to a lower position upon the lower supports 59 and 5|. The movable nut supports for the upper and lower positions are returned to'their effective positions, after the nuts are dropped, by a spring 64 connected at one end to the lever 4| and at the other end to a fixed portion of the frame 22.

After each unit cracking operation, the cam projection 58b engages the operating roller 55 of the lever 4|, and again rocks it and the connected lever 43, thereby separating the upper nut supports 38 and 39 and the lower side nut supports 48 and 49. As there is no nut upon the upper supports 38 and 39 at this time, only the lower supports 48 and 49 are effective to do any work. At this time the lever 53 is rocked by engagement of its contact roller 51 with the cam 59, which moves the bottom nut support 59 outwardly at one side of the nut, thus leaving only the fixed support 5| at one side of the bottom of the nut. Since the position of the support 5| is off-center, the cracked nut is then free to drop clear of the other supports, and before the lever support 50 is returned to its operating position in response to tension of a spring 65 connected thereto.

A nut N is first supported at the bottom of the funnel 36 on the nut supports 38 and 39, and later is dropped to the lower or cracking position in which the nut is held between the lower side supports 48 and 49 upon the bottom supports 50 and 5|. In the cracking position, the nuts are disposed between a pair of axially aligned cracking heads H, each mounted for inward movement with similar operating mechanism for both heads so that the description of one head applies also to the other.

Each cracking head H is mounted upon an endwise movable shaft 61, and comprises four fingers 68 pivoted intermediate their ends, at equidistant angles around the shaft, in slots 69 of a plate 10, upon pivot bolts 1|. The plate is secured to a collar 12 pinned to the shaft limiting the endwise movement of the plate and arms and also holding the fingers against rotation about the shaft.

One end of each finger 68 has an inclined nut engaging head 13 and the other end has an inner beveled edge 14. A coil spring 15 connected through a hole 16 near the beveled edge of each finger tends to spread the opposite heads 13 outwardly. A beveled wedging collar 11 on the shaft 61 is movable against the beveled edges 14 to press the heads 13 inwardly against the action of the spring 15.

The fingers 68 are spaced equally apart and are held relatively in that position on the shaft 61 to extend above, below, and at both sides of a nut N when held in the lower cracking position by the supports 48, 49, 50, and 5|. These supports are arranged, as shown in Fig. 1, so that they are out of endwise alignment with the fingers 68 and neither conflicts with the movement or operation of the other.

To engage a nut, the shaft 61 is moved endwise and the fingers 68 of the cracking head H are moved inwardly at the ends of the shaft. This is accomplished by mechanism mounted upon and in connection with a driving shaft 18 parallel with the shafts 61 and mounted in a lateral portion of the side frames 22. This shaft 18 is constantly rotated by a gear 19 secured fast thereto and meshing with a driving pinion 88 secured to a countershaft 8| alsomounted in the side frames 22. This countershaft is driven in any suitable manner as by means of a sprocket wheel 82 secured thereto and rotated by a driving chain 83 from a power source (not shown).

Continuousrotation of the shaft I8 rotates a segmental cam 84 adapted to engage a roller 85 carried by theupper end of an upright lever 86 pivoted at itslower end in ears 8I projecting from one of the side frames This lever is connected by a link 88 with another lever89 having a roller 99 at its upper end and located at the opposite side of the driving shaft I8, but also. engaged bytheseg nenta1 cam 84. Thelever' 89 is mo nt d a .itslower end up n apiv t 9| i th frame-:and this lever and theconnected lever 86 e pres d toward the upri t. p n of, the

frame by a spring 92 connected at one end to the lever 89 and at the other end to a fixed portion of the frame. At the top of the lever 86 is a cross head '93 (see Fig. 2) having projecting pins 94 on opposite sides each engaging a slot 95 in one end of a lever 99 pivoted intermediate its ends upon a projection 91 of the side frame. 'The other end of each lever 96 has an arm 98 connecting it to a wedge 99 having an inclined wedging surface I99 near its outer end. At the end of the wedge is a narrow fiat portion I91 and a slot I92 extends inwardly from the end and beyond the wedging surface I99 so that it may extend on opposite sides of the shaft 61.

At one side of the fiat portion I9I are collars I94 and I95 movable on the shaft 9! and into engagement with the wedging collar 11 which is also movable upon the shaft. At the other side of the wedge 99 is a collar I98 also movable upon the shaft 61 so that the wedge'99 slides between the collars I94 and I96, the latter collar being held in position and the wedging surface I99 forcing the wedging collar 11 inwardly upon the inner beveled edges I4 of the fingers 68. This causes the finger heads I3 to be pressed against a nut N for cracking it;

Each shaft 61 is movable endwise by means of a lever I91 havinga pivot I98 intermediate its ends supported upon abracket I99 attached to the frame 22. At one end is a rounded extremity IIO for engaging a collar III loose upon the shaft 61 and spaced from a collar I I2 fixed to the shaft by an extended coil spring H3. The collar III is preferably connected to a collar I M at the other side of the rounded extremity II9 by a reduced sleeve H5 for seating this rounded extremity thereon between thecollars III and I14.

At the other end of the lever I9! is a roller H6 adapted to engage a cam I I1 secured to the shaft I8 for rocking the opposite end of the lever to move the shaft BI resiliently endwise'against the tensiOn of the spring H3. Also secured to the shaft I8 is a cam II8 to engage the roller IIB to move the lever I9! and the shaft I8 in the reverse direction.

Thus the two coaxial shafts B1 are moved endwise intoengagement with the ends of a nut N, carrying with the shafts the cracking heads H until they overlap the ends-of the nut and then, by the application of the wedges 99, the wedging collars 71 are forced inwardly at the beveled ends of the fingers 98 whereby to force the nut engaging heads I3 into pressure contact with the nut.

To operate upon nuts of various size, the movement of each shaft 61 and the movement range of each wedge 99 may require adjustment. This -may be effected by an arm II9 mounted at one end upon a pivot I29 carried by the frame adjacent the shaft 8! and having a roller I2I at its distance of the adjacent end of the lever I23 from the arm H9, thereby producing a corresponding variation'inthe position of the contact projection I24, thus axially advancing or withdrawing the shaft 6! and correspondingly varying'the position of the wedge 99. The wedges are positively moved into engaging position when 7 the cam 84' is engaged by the roller 99; the wedges are moved away from engaging position when the cam is engaged by the other roller 85.

The timing and operation of the drivin mechanism is such that the feeding and cracking operati ons are continuous and consecutive. To connect the nut positioning parts operated by the shaft 69 for timed operation with the nut engaging and cracking parts, a sprocket wheel I28 secured to shaft 69 is connected by a sprocket chain I2! with a sprocket wheel I28 on the shaft I8. Nuts fed from the hopper are successively positioned by the funnel 36 upon the upper supports 38 and 39; each nut in'turn then drops down to rest upon the lower supports 59 and 5|; the nut cracking heads H are then advanced by opposite axial movements of the shafts 91 into engagement with the extremities of the nut, and concurrentlyoperate to force the acting heads of the fingers 68 into pressure engagement with opposite end portions of the nut N at points removed from their extremities (see Fig. 12). In such a compression of a nuta pecan, for example-the contact of the shaft ends and the cracking heads H produce depress-ions d in the surfaces enga'ged, and also cracks 0 between the surfaces, depending of course upon the adjustment of the cracking members which may be varied, as desired, for nuts of diiferent sizes so that the shells will be broken and cracked but without crushing the nut. Thus when the cracking heads H and the shafts 6! are disengaged from the nut, the latter is free to drop from its position upon the then-separated supports 59 and 5!. The fall of thenut may further break the shell apart so that the nut meats are well exposed and loosened, whereby to require very little picking in the separation of the meats from the shells.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, it should be regarded by way of example and illustration, and not as a limitation or restriction of the invention, as various changes in the construction,

combination, and arrangement of the parts may on each cracking head to compressively engage a nutbetween the ends thereof, means for moving the shafts endwise to co-mpressively engage the opposite ends of a nut, operating means on each shaft to actuate the cracking head, a wedge to movethe operating means relative to the shaft when it is moved endwise, a driving shaft having a cam thereon, a pair of levers on opposite sides of the earn, a link connecting the levers for joint movement and engaged by the cam for moving them oppositely, a crosshead carried at the top 7 of one of the levers, and a lever pivoted between its ends with one end engagin the crosshead and the other end engaging the Wedge and operative to move it back and forth as the link connected pair of levers are engaged by the cam.

ARISTOMENES D. ADAMOPOULOS.

file of this patent:

Number 8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Peckham Feb. 1, 1910 Jones Dec. 12, 1916 Bolick Sept. 18, 1917 McFarland. May 7, 1918 Jones Mar. 22, 1921 Jones Jan. 3, 1922 Smith Aug. 13, 1929 Gebhardt July 3, 1934 Schreeber Sept. 11, 1934 LaFerney Dec. 24, 1940 

